I actually don't see a problem with it as long as the affiliations are clear and it is equal opportunity.

It doesn't violate separation of church and state because the government is not establishing an official religion everyone must follow. It's a freaking flyer for an easter party that just happens to be at a church. Bunnies and eggs and candy are not part of Christian worship of Easter and what it's about. It's the secular, non-religious celebration of Easter that involves those things. When I attended punlic school when I was young I would get flyers about holiday events at the church right up the street as well as there being bulletin boards in numerous places throughout the school advertising events going on in the community. I don't see this as a problem.

As much as I don't like prosteletizing, I feel like we do have to be able to strike a balance between separation of church & state and a sense of community. This definitely isn't for everyone, but I don't think we need to hit the outrage button for everything.

If a mosque was having a free food tasting in celebration of a holiday, I don't think we should ban that from being "advertised" politely at schools.

"Congress shall make no law..."

And they haven't. You may not like it, but it's not the same as establishing a State religion. Or preventing the free exercise of anyone's beliefs.

Nothing to see here, move along please.

That it is a church, even if it were doing a "religious" event, doesn't bother me.

What bothers me is the flyers being handed out. Who in the school thought this would be a good idea? Don't kids get enough crap to bring home and forget to give their parents the urgent stuff anyway? Do we now want the important, mommy or daddy have to sign stuff, mixed in with this other crap?

I see it as my mailbox - I have to go through the junk mail to make sure that I'm not throwing out any bills. I don't like the idea of loading kids up with junk that parents will have to go through to make sure there aren't any important forms, etc. that MUST be given to the parents.

Now, if the school offers a "public" bulletin board that the church wants to post something on I say go ahead (but, with the understanding that the school has the right to refuse anything they deem "not appropriate for school." After all, it is on school grounds, not really public anyway)

Educators should be in the business of educating, not indoctrinating, not advocating, not proselytizing, not advertising, just plain educating.

Fine, let the muslim advocates pass out flyers in the schools, too. Dearborn is mostly Arab, and it's not as if Islam is a murderous, totalitarian, misogynistic ideology or anything like that.

Communist flyers are fine, too.

The only time our school normally allows stuff to be passed out is if the school directly benefits. You could save a forest if they'd lay off the advertising for all the fundraising shit going on. Bake sales with $20 tubs of chemical-tasting cookie dough, "butter braids" for twelve dollars (it's a fucking danish), the meal program schilling crap not unlike the Schweaty Schwan's driver in my hood....gift wrap, the mandatory tickets for the "pig picking" for Homecoming.

Can you tell I'm ready for the school year to be over?

> Fine, let the muslim advocates pass out flyers

Dood, when Islamic charity, coherence and discipline have done as much for the world as Christianity has, your sarcasm will pass muster.

But for this afternoon, no, no. Christianity and Islam and Communism aren't ideological consumer brands, lined up on a shelf, where Rice Krispies and Lady Speed Stick and Kraft American Singles can each serve the purpose of the other.

Also, I admire Juliana's pissedoffedness.

I'm not sure as a parent, I would find passing out fliers for an Easter Egg hunt substantially different from passing out commercial food products in wrappers marked with a commercial product logo.

Whether that food product be tofu, or twinkies.

Both are speech, and a radical Gaia worshiping vegan, might find both forms of advertising equally offensive.

Parsing the difference is for sharper minds than those employed as administrators in most school districts.

But now you know where those "zero tolerance" policies come from.

Our public school sends the kids home with flyers for events at churches, after school activities like karate and gymnastics lessons, boy scouts, girl scouts, etc. They had a Tooth Fairy visit health class when they discussed oral hygiene, and she handed out goody bags with advertising for a dental clinic---including a coupon for a free toy from the treasure chest, no checkup required. Try getting your kindergarteners to understand anything after the words FREE TOY.

The only one that really bugged me was the flyer for Brain Balance, a chain of strip-mall chiropractors that claim they can cure your kids of ADHD, Autism, dyslexia, depression, poor academic achievement, and perhaps athletes foot with their expensive, unproven program of exercise and adjustments.

Send the kids home with flyers for the parents -- explaining birth control. A lot of them wouldn't need to be worrying about public schools had they already understood. Maybe they can save their kids the same fate. Heh.

That sounded anti-kid after seeing it typed out in front of myself.

I'm not anti-kid.

I just wish somebody was. lol

Too many little monsters running around.

Wow. How do people this delicate function in the real world?

What's missing here is for the local mosque, the local Jewish temple and the local Buddhist monastery to offer their own events for kids. If they were to do so, they would also be allowed to advertise the events.

Only if this is *not* the case - only if the school *only* allows advertising from one particular religion - is their any sort of legal issue.

Anyhow, for laughs: Easter eggs and bunnies - indeed the entire Easter holiday - are the celebrations of the pagan Goddess Eostre. They have nothing whatsoever to do with the Christian religion.

I'm all or nothing, either you allow everyone to hand out fliers in school, or no one.

I think the bulletin board idea makes sense, avoids the junk mail but lets people see what's going on in the community. Reminds me of college.

“It really bothered my two kids,” said parent Majed Moughni, who is Muslim and has two children, ages 7 and 9, in Dearborn elementary schools. “My son was like, ‘Dad, I really don’t feel comfortable getting these flyers, telling me to go to church. I thought churches are not supposed to mix with schools.’ ”

As kids, how many of you were scared when a church asked you to attend an Easter egg hunt?

Wonder what these kids are being taught at home?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,"

is allowing the passing out flyers a law respecting religion? I'd have to say no.
No one is being arrested or required or forced to go.
Would not allowing the flyers be, "prohibiting the free exercise thereof"? Maybe, it is advertising an event.

Is not allowing the flyers, against: "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; "?

I'd have to go with yes.

Sure kids in school are a "captive audience". But that is a problem with the school requirement.

If only 1 religion was allowed to do this and others forbidden, there would be a case.
Or if kids were directly or indirectly required to go, there would be a case.
Or if the school paid for the event or the flyers.
But not this. Because once you go down the road you can't advertise on gov't property or gov't time. Then what stops the next person from making school 24x7 and all land gov't property.

Freedom of religion is not freedom from ever hearing about religion, it is people not forcing you to practice or punishing you if you do or don't.

"And they haven't. You may not like it, but it's not the same as establishing a State religion."

I find this fascinating. We've already seen how modern Christians have basically taken over the concept of "Easter", and in a manner which does not even raise the possibility of questioning its origins.

We still ignore that the same thing has occurred with respect to the term "establishment".
I find it both ironic and dishonest that the same "liberals" who had no problem pointing to a military industrial complex, or a presidential administration, or even the bar down at the corner as an "establishment" – change the meaning of the word at will to do what they want when they are in power. Somehow it has become a verb, rather than a noun.

Try the same phrase on for size when referring to the press as an "establishment". No one would argue that a law could not be passed "regarding the establishment of the press". No one would raise a constitutional argument against government establishing a state newspaper, so long as private presses were allowed to operate.

Meanwhile, do not be fooled: Congress passes laws with respect to religion all the damned time.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,"
_________________________________

The first time I read that, I was pretty young, so I very much misinterpreted it.

That is, I thought it meant "respecting" in the other sense of the word!

> Muslim parents were upset. Rightfully so.

I think it's a really, really bad idea to encourage government-fortified ninnydom by Muslim activists.

Or most any other "parent."

Parents get up set all the time. I'm almost always cool with that. No need to get all enforcement-minded.

Car dealers don't pass out balloons in school, they bring a demo minivan to the school and donate $10 to the school for every parent who test drives it. And schools should be free to hand out flyers for any event geared towards kids. If the mosque wants to host a "find the Koran" hunt or some such (I've no idea what they do for fun for kids) I'm fine getting a flyer home for that too.

Muslims are professional gripe-ers. They get about as much of my attention as Jessie Jackson.

I appreciate fliers for these weekend and evening events. I especially appreciate them coming from the local school so I know there will be some other little hellions he knows there for him to run around with. That way I'm free to scope moms with missing rings.